NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday that the veteran pass rusher might do exactly that if he doesn't see the money he believes he deserves on the open market.

"He wants his market value, he wants his fair salary, and if he does not get it, Jared Allen is very much at peace," Rapoport said on NFL Network's "Free Agency Frenzy." " ... He is willing to simply go about his life and walk away from football."

Jared Allen through the years

Initially a free-agent target for the Broncos, the former Minnesota Vikings defensive end watched as DeMarcus Ware, released by Dallas on Tuesday, has "essentially jumped in and taken his spot (in Denver)," as Rapoport put it.

Allen, like Ware, belongs to a productive but aging crop of free-agent edge rushers struggling to get paid as teams set their sights on younger targets. After averaging nearly 13 sacks per season during his 10 years in the league, Allen isn't averse to pulling the plug on his decorated career.

"I will tell you this," Rapoport said. "Jared Allen has a ton of admiration for Barry Sanders, who walked away from football while still having his best, still able to play at a high level. He walked on his own terms, it's something Jared Allen has always respected."

We still wonder if a team like Seattle -- currently in talks with Allen -- could nab him for less. After all, the Seahawks offer Allen a chance to do what Sanders, in all his glory, never did: Go out a winner.

UPDATE: After Ware signed his three-year, $30 million deal with the Broncos on Wednesday, Rapoport reported that Denver initially had the exact same offer on the table for Allen, according to a source informed of the team's situation.

Allen would have taken that deal, too, but Rapoport was told the Broncos made him wait as they huddled with Ware. Tough pill to swallow, as it won't be easy for Allen to land that kind of money elsewhere.